8 Major Countries Commit To Increase The Share Of EVs In Government Fleets

Recognizing the importance of reducing carbon emission in the transportation sector, eight nations – Canada, China, France, Japan, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States of America – signed a Government Fleet Declaration, pledging to increase the share of electric vehicles in their government fleets and calling for other governments to join them.

The Declaration was announced at the Marrakech Climate Change Conference (COP22) and was developed under the aegis of the Clean Energy Ministerial’s Electric Vehicles Initiative (CEM-EVI).

The Declaration emphasises the renewal of government fleets and showcases specific and voluntary commitments of these countries to accelerate the introduction of low-emission vehicles in their vehicle fleets. Through this Declaration, the eight signatory governments are taking a leadership role in this movement and sending a strong signal for the need to speed up the transition to a low-carbon transport.

Greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector today account for nearly a quarter of total emissions. The share will increase significantly in the coming decades unless high-impact actions are taken. Changing the trajectory of emission in road transportation involves a global shift towards low-emission vehicles, along with the adoption of broader sustainable transportation principles.

The voluntary commitments taken by these countries will reduce fleets’ greenhouse gas emissions and help accelerate the transition to low-emission vehicles, in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The members of the Clean Energy Ministerial’s Electric Vehicles Initiative cooperate to facilitate the global deployment of 20 million electric vehicles, including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles, by 2020. This Declaration is also in line with the Paris Declaration on Electro-Mobility and Climate Change and Call to Action released at COP21 during the Lima Paris Action Agenda (LPAA) Transport Focus, which specifies that at least 20 percent of all road transport vehicles (cars, 2 and 3-wheelers, trucks, buses and others) globally should be electrically powered by 2030 to respect a less-than 2-degree pathway.

This Declaration also aims at encouraging non-state actors, such as cities, regional and state governments, companies, sectorial federations and other organizations, to accelerate the energy transition with the introduction of clean vehicles in their fleets, including transit buses, taxi fleets, as well as municipal and corporate fleets.